Water backing up into shower

I have a friend that just bought a small house with a partial basement. There is a washing machine in the basement that empties into a 55 gallon drum. When it empties, the sump pump in the drum is activated and starts pumping the water up and into a drain pipe. The drain pipe it connects to comes from the sink and shower of the bathroon and empties into the cast iron toilet fitting. After the toilet fitting, the cast iron drain pipe immediately exits the side of the basement, through the yard and into the city sewer system. On the other side of the toilet fitting connects the drain for the kitchen sink.

The problem is that when the sump pump runs, it forces water up into the shower. It's never enough to flood the bathroom, but it is rather gross.

drain

That is because the pipe the pump is connected to is too small for the pump water and the excess has to go some where, namely into the shower.

hj said:

That is because the pipe the pump is connected to is too small for the pump water and the excess has to go some where, namely into the shower.

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Yes, and unfortunately the pipe size is limited by the opening in the side of the toilet fitting.

I have no idea whether this is "legal", as such, but you might try placing a vertical-flapper-type check valve (like a pet door and with no spring) between the shower drain and the pump's connection behind the toilet. Such a valve would let the shower discharge pass on through and drain normally while limiting the pump's output to the only direction you want it to go. You might get a little disturbance on the surface of the water in the toilet bowl, but the line from the toilet on out should easily accept the pump's output without actually raising the water level in the toilet bowl.

JasonG said:

Yes, and unfortunately the pipe size is limited by the opening in the side of the toilet fitting.

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All that means is you have to tie in further down the line.
Really this whole set up is wrong.
The barrel should be replaced with a laundry pump and vented properly as well.

leejosepho said:

I have no idea whether this is "legal", as such, but you might try placing a vertical-flapper-type check valve (like a pet door and with no spring) between the shower drain and the pump's connection behind the toilet. Such a valve would let the shower discharge pass on through and drain normally while limiting the pump's output to the only direction you want it to go. You might get a little disturbance on the surface of the water in the toilet bowl, but the line from the toilet on out should easily accept the pump's output without actually raising the water level in the toilet bowl.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't consider this. It would be a sure fire hair catcher and snaking the tub drain would be an impossible situation.

Shouldn't the effluent being lifted enter above the horizantal gravity drain via a short turn 90 to a 45 dumping into a wye¿

Redwood said:

All that means is you have to tie in further down the line.
Really this whole set up is wrong.
The barrel should be replaced with a laundry pump and vented properly as well.

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What kind of laundry pump do you recommend?

The Liberty model 405 is a good one.